Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Our new series "The Future of Real Estate" will begin on July 14th luncheon and will be launch by a powerhouse of REO Agents that will be sharing regarding the future of Real Estate from a perspective of an REO agent. This luncheon is sure to sell out; therefore we are encouraging everyone to pre-register to reserve your space.

I encourage those who have not yet become a member to do so now. NHORA's vision is to encourage, promote affordable and sustainable homeownership and every month we bring forth this mission to our members.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Short sales, an alternative to foreclosure that poses relatively less overall severity, are artificially boosted by mandatory and voluntary foreclosure prevention efforts that prevent mortgages from entering real estate owned (REO) status, according to a securitization research note by Barclays Capital (BarCap).

Short sales pose benefits to both borrowers and lenders where foreclosure is the alternative. A short sale tends to cost the lender less than foreclosure and it spares the borrower the negative credit score implications.

As federally-funded modifications made through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) grow in frequency and lenders are expected to hold off on foreclosure proceedings, the REO pipeline shrunk, according to BarCap researchers. The foreclosure prevention efforts have had the effect of "artificially" boosting short sales.

"The artificial constraints to foreclosure auctions have resulted in a reduction in REO stock," BarCap said. "As a result, the net volume of REO liquidations has also dropped. As short sales are not affected by moratoria, their rate held up and their overall share in distressed sales increased. It has now risen more than 10 points from the lows to about 35% of overall liquidations. It remains to be seen if this increase will sustain itself once the large number of loans sitting in foreclosure are finally released into REO."

BarCap researchers pointed to the difference in severity seem in foreclosure and short sale scenarios as one of the drivers behind servicers choosing short sales.

Servicers that pursue foreclosure on non-performing loans held within securitization have to make principal and interest advances until the loan�s liquidation, BarCap said. If the asset declines in value during the liquidation timeline and it neighbors other REOs, the final selling price will likely come in far below the current broker price opinion (BPO), which leads to high severity.

Short sales, on the other hand, pose a shorter timeline during which fewer principal and interest advances are needed. The asset has less time to depreciate, and borrowers have a strong incentive to maintain the property in order to sell it, BarCap said. The idea is that a better-maintained house attracts stronger bids, reducing overall severity in comparison with the REO liquidation scenario.

Monday, June 14, 2010

SEBRING - Olga Padron has one of those Hispanically lovely faces: eyes like Hershey Kisses, sepia-tone skin, high cheekbones. Did she ever model?

"No." Padron protested the absurdity of the question, sitting across a booth at Panera Bread. "I've got the Cuban gene. I'm barely 5'1".

True. During the 1960s, when Padron was growing up, models were no longer average-sized and perky; they were like Twiggy, 5'6" or taller, and built like boys.

Olga Padron, 52, has lived in Florida since she was 7. "So I'm more American than I am Cuban."

Fidel Castro revolted in 1959, and in 1961 he declared for communism. By 1965, her father realized that life in Cuba was no longer a good idea. Because they wanted to avoid mandatory military service, his two older sons had already asked for political asylum and moved to America with their mother in 1961. He decided to move too.

"I didn't speak English," Padron said. She learned in six months. "There was no one else in school who spoke Spanish so, you know what, you got to learn."

"It wasn't because I was so smart," she added, in an accent that still sounds Cuban - or maybe it's that Hispanic-Miami inflection. Although she still has relatives on the island, most have come to the U.S., some by vacationing in other countries first to avoid Cuba's suspicion.

Growing up in paradise

Ironically, her father felt that Castro's radical government wouldn't survive, and that his family would be back in Cuba in six months. He died in 2006.

Padron married in South Florida and began raising a family near Florida International University on South 16th and 102nd Avenue, but it got overcrowded. The crime rate rose, and so did taxes.

"It's a beautiful place, very dynamic and very diverse. It has beautiful beaches. But it's so expensive - the average person, it's hard to survive." She was a medical office manager, working for a doctor who specialized in head and neck cancer.

Twelve years ago, she began looking for a cleaner, quieter, cheaper place, and that brought her up U.S. 27. For awhile, she worked in another medical office, but she was told, "You should go into real estate. You've got a nice personality for it."

Jim Otterman hired her at Coldwell Banker Highlands Properties. "I had a good run, and it was fun, and I really enjoyed it." After all, she got in on the great real estate rush of the early 21st century.

"But I always wanted to be a nurse," she said. Why she didn't go to nursing school is Every woman's story. At 23, she met a man and lost her head - her words. Her husband didn't encourage her to make that dream come true. She needed to work while the kids were in school.

More changes

But Padron started at South Florida Community College last year. Today, she's working on prerequisites. That's one reason why she enjoys beaches and barbeques more than books. She'll start nursing classes in August 2011.

"There are only 24 available positions," Padron said, a little proud that she was chosen among 300 applicants to the two-year RN program.

A mid-life career change isn't scary to her: "I was in the medical field before, so I know what's to be expected. There's job security in the medical field, and I'm doing it because it's something I've always wanted to do."

Until then, she's still selling real estate, which she said is going for bargain basement prices. The trouble is, real estate agents aren't making much money these days, but they pay for advertising, office expenses, errors and omissions insurance, long distance, gifts to the buyers after closings...

"And you have to have nice clothes and a nice car," she added. "You can't be ashamed when people are sitting in your car."

Real estate agents have a saying: "It's not closed until it's closed." Deals fall through for hundreds of reasons: buyer's remorse, the home that the buyer is selling hasn't sold, the bank won't loan the money...

Some Cubans are avid, Padron is a Cuban watcher. It's a place she might visit, but she never wants to live there. Recently, the Women in White - who publically prayed for their husbands in jail, were arrested and beaten.

"It's an outrage," Padron said, "not only in Cuba, but anywhere. There really is no freedom. He was never elected. And people have to be free. People only leave something because they are not happy, rather risk their life on the Florida straits than to be there. You don't see anyone leaving America in a boat, do you?"

Highlands Today reporter Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863-386-5828

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Because AdWords offers precise targeting and measurability, as well as tremendous reach, it's possible to achieve a high ROI on a large scale. Let's take a closer look at each of these factors:

Relevance

One of the biggest benefits AdWords offers is the ability to precisely target ads to users based on their interest, as well as a number of other factors like location, language, and demographic. The result is that the user sees highly relevant ads, which they are more likely to click on. And because ads on search engines show only in response to a user's query, the user is also more likely to be further along in the buying cycle, and more likely to be ready to convert.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Online advertising is thoroughly measurable, making it easy to tell whether or not you're meeting your advertising goals. Every user's click is tied to a particular ad, keyword, and search query, all of which you can track and decide to improve whenever you like. If you spot a trend, you can create, modify, or delete keywords, ads, and campaign targeting selections within seconds. This allows you to be more responsive and more in control when it comes to improving your ROI.

Reach

Every day, Internet users conduct millions of searches on Google. When you use Google AdWords, you have the opportunity to capture any segment of that broad worldwide audience that's actively looking for products, services, information, and websites. By giving your products or services a presence during relevant user searches, you're ensuring that you're visible in a crucial point in the customer's buying cycle -- when the user is actively searching for what you're offering.

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